No fans, limited crew at the track, no or limited practice, limited live media, if your team is large enough, shop crew is separate from track crew, can't even bring the spotters down into the pits. Darlington Saturday, Darlington Wednesday, Charlotte Saturday, Charlotte Wednesday... All tracks within driving distance from Charlotte, no flying. Their intention is to run the proper amount of races, although the chances of going to California or Watkins Glen are slim, at best.
I predict shockingly good tv ratings, based on it being the only live sport in the world.
I also predict some old guys are going to do very well, since they will probably get close to zero practice, and good driver/crew chief combos with a good book will start out well.
I am loking forward to it.
Kudos to NASCAR for getting creative and getting back on track. Will a non-spectator race work? Sure, when we raced SCCA, they were all non-spectator races. NASCAR has a strong TV package to bring the racing to fans everywhere. Yeah, TV ratings will be off the charts.
It will be very interesting when the green flag flies and they go into Turn One at Darlington with no practice or qualifying, after not racing for two months.
Danny Shields (Forum Supporter) said:
It will be very interesting when the green flag flies and they go into Turn One at Darlington with no practice or qualifying, after not racing for two months.
It may be just as interesting as they come out of turn 4 on the first lap (if anybody is still at speed).
Just heard yesterday that Matt Kenseth is coming back to take over driving of the former Kyle Larson car. Ought to be interesting to see how tgat goes, after over a year away from the sport, driving a car with someone else’s setup, and no practice time.
With Kenseth in the 42 and Kurt Busch in the 1, Ganassi has two former champions, from their Roush years.
I can only remember one or two events that effectively got started with no practice or qualifying over the last 20 years of professional motorsports I have been involved in. The lack of practice time will show why the teams with the biggest budgets also tend to have the most wins.
Regarding the limited practice, it's basically autocross/rally rules for NASCAR.
stafford1500 said:
I can only remember one or two events that effectively got started with no practice or qualifying over the last 20 years of professional motorsports I have been involved in. The lack of practice time will show why the teams with the biggest budgets also tend to have the most wins.
Big budgets will certainly help but so will established crew chief/driver relationships. Being able to go to a track with a lot of notes about what's worked for a particular driver will be a huge advantage.
I don't expect spectacular results but it'll be fun to see how Kenseth does strapping into a car he's never driven, for the first time in over a year with no practice.
noddaz said:
America's Cup?
Porsche Cup?
Beetle Cup?
Global MX-5 Cup?
Oh. NASCAR. 
Scott
That's also where I am at, but better than nothing.
What channel will these be broadcast on? I may well tune in to watch a NASCAR race on TV for the first time ever. Went to one race at MIS close to 25 years ago, but never ever watched a whole race on TV. I'm desperate.
Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) said:
What channel will these be broadcast on? I may well tune in to watch a NASCAR race on TV for the first time ever. Went to one race at MIS close to 25 years ago, but never ever watched a whole race on TV. I'm desperate.
The race will be aired on FOX at 3:30pm eastern time on Sunday, May 17th.
Quick link to the countdown timer... with broadcast info below on the right side of the page.
David S. Wallens said:
Regarding the limited practice, it's basically autocross/rally rules for NASCAR.
That really is a good analogy. I like it.
Most crapcan races start with 0 practice time as well. If 120+ cavemen can get through Daytona road course turn 1 unscathed in Champcar, I'm sure the Nascar gents will do juts fine at Darlington
T.J.
MegaDork
5/6/20 11:39 a.m.
Time to dust off North Wilkesboro and Rockingham if they want to stay close to CLT. Those only ~1.5 hrs away. Bring these tracks back into the mix.
Apparently, Mark Martin was king of no practice. He would just toss it into turn one and see what happened.
David S. Wallens said:
Regarding the limited practice, it's basically autocross/rally rules for NASCAR.
Course walk? Just drivers, no crew members.
David S. Wallens said:
Regarding the limited practice, it's basically autocross/rally rules for NASCAR.
So what I'm reading here is we need to mix NASCAR with European Rallycross FTMFW?
NASCAR? Isn't that that southern regional racing series for moonshiners? Again?
Interesting. Are the races mostly at tracks in states that have opened up early?
T.J. said:
Time to dust off North Wilkesboro and Rockingham if they want to stay close to CLT. Those only ~1.5 hrs away. Bring these tracks back into the mix.
North Wilkesboro is going to need more than "dusting off" to be ready to use again:
glueguy (Forum Supporter) said:
David S. Wallens said:
Regarding the limited practice, it's basically autocross/rally rules for NASCAR.
Course walk? Just drivers, no crew members.
You know, I'd watch that. Mic up the drivers. How do they analyze the track? What do they chat about?
David S. Wallens said:
glueguy (Forum Supporter) said:
David S. Wallens said:
Regarding the limited practice, it's basically autocross/rally rules for NASCAR.
Course walk? Just drivers, no crew members.
You know, I'd watch that. Mic up the drivers. How do they analyze the track? What do they chat about?
"Id like to thank these Nike TrackWalk sneakers with Goodyear soles for providing the grip I need on this Kokosing asphalt. Without my Fruit of the Loom socks and their patented moisture wicking action my dogs would really be barking." (Takes a long drink of Coca Cola) 
David S. Wallens said:
glueguy (Forum Supporter) said:
David S. Wallens said:
Regarding the limited practice, it's basically autocross/rally rules for NASCAR.
Course walk? Just drivers, no crew members.
You know, I'd watch that. Mic up the drivers. How do they analyze the track? What do they chat about?
In the current world they would likely compare how the track is all wrong compared to the simulators they have been driving for a few weeks.
As a side note, have you noticed how the stripes on highway repairs painted at 2mph are really messed up when seen at 60+mph. Walking the track can give you way too much noise about something that really doesn't matter at speed. We used the golf carts to do track laps with the open wheel drivers to get their input on areas they thought needed traction control and that was still too slow to really get a good impression of the time across features. The best was a 15-20 minute hot-lap session with Stephan Ortelli at Dijon after a day of testing the LeMans GT1 car. That Peugot diesel wagon never stood chance with him behind the wheel. I struggled to take notes while he was throwing the car around.
Maybe they can think of something thats not 200 laps in a circle......
I liked how Daytona did the Busch Clash before , a couple 50 lap sprint races , maybe switch the order of cars at the break ,
and let them fix their cars at the break with cameras rolling........
T.J.
MegaDork
5/6/20 1:25 p.m.
In reply to Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) :
A full field of cars going around and around to the left for a couple hundred miles should clear the dust , debris and some of the weeds out. No practice, just let them loose and see how it goes. I would actually watch the race if they raced at Wilkesboro in its current state. At a normal oval track, I am not really interested. I know what it's like to be in a traffic jam on the interstate. I don't want to sit on my couch and watch a higher speed version of that.
